


you are in love

by rories



Category: The Blacklist (TV)
Genre: Domestic, F/M, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-25
Updated: 2017-08-25
Packaged: 2018-12-19 19:49:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,210
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11904996
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rories/pseuds/rories
Summary: three brief moments in the evolution of ressler's realization that's he's in love with liz in that can't-eat, can't-sleep, reach-for-the-stars, over-the-fence, world series kind of way.cause you can hear it in the silence / you can feel it on the way home / you can see it with the lights out / you are in love / true love





	you are in love

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sarabeth1](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sarabeth1/gifts).



> shoutout to @alyblacklist for looking this over for me. 
> 
> me: attempts to write in a different way so that no one can tell it's me  
> also me: fails entirely

One of the things that Liz and Ressler fight about the most is when their first date was. Ress likes to say it was two Septembers ago, when he’d convinced her (finally) to go to dinner with him. Really, it was just a bite to eat at a little Chinese restaurant around the corner from her new apartment, but still. It was him and her and soft lighting and even though they were both bone tired from chasing Blacklisters all over DC, she had looked so beautiful that he couldn’t help but kiss her in front of her front door. To this day, he still gets a little flutter when he thinks about it, and he’s man enough to admit it. 

Liz, on the other hand, argues that their first date came before that, during a stakeout outside of a backroom casino. They had spent the entire night together, switching back and forth for who went to get more coffee or dinner or just to stretch their legs. They had also spent a fair amount of time pressed thigh to thigh to peer at the small computer screen where video feeds from inside casino played. Spending that much time together had led to some interesting conversations and Liz had learned more about her partner than she ever thought she would. 

Ressler argues that that couldn’t possibly have been their first date because it was work related and they hadn’t even kissed at the end of it, both too tired to even contemplate something like that. But Liz remembers the exact moment it felt like a date. She’d stepped out of the van for a few minutes to stretch her legs, reaching her arms up and had briefly caught her partner looking at the strip of bare skin between her shirt and slacks. She had ignored the way he’d looked away quickly, ignored the blush that stained his cheeks, but she couldn’t ignore the way her whole body warmed at the knowledge that her partner had been checking her out. 

She had offered to get the coffee that time, asking him if he wanted anything else from the corner store and tried not to comment on his lack of a verbal answer. They’d clearly been spending too much time together, she’d thought at the time. She had checked her watch on her way back with two cups of coffee and a muffin she was willing to share with Ressler because she knew that even though he’d said he wasn’t hungry, he actually was. It was just after midnight when she’d opened the van door, muffin balancing in a bag on the drink carrier. 

And that was the moment, that’s when Liz had known that the stakeout was more than that. Because she’d opened the door and Ressler had looked up, catching her eye and flashing a grin at her. She’d been gone only a few minutes, but the smile on his face when she returned had been so full of joy and relief that she had felt a rush of warmth so intense she almost dropped the coffees. She knew then exactly how she had felt about her partner and could see in his eyes, in that brief look, that he felt the same about her. 

So that’s when Liz says their first date is, that night of a dead end stakeout that ended up going nowhere, just the two of them sitting side by side, shoulders brushing as the conversations got softer and more personal throughout the night. She loves to remember their first dinner together, the one he claims is their first date, but that night in the back of a small, cramped van, is the memory she truly cherishes. 

\-----

Liz moves in to Ressler’s apartment gradually. It’s not really something they decide is going to happen, but happen it does. It starts with Liz leaving clothes at his place here and there and after a few months, him just giving her her own drawer to leave the few pieces she has in. He gets her a toothbrush, starts stocking the kitchen with her favorite kind of coffee and ice cream, leaves a blanket on the back of his couch because he knows that she gets cold. Liz gets her own profile on his Netflix account and he finds himself choosing hers over his most nights. 

When the lease on Liz’s apartment gets close to its end, she shyly brings up the possibility of her selling her furniture and moving in officially. She mentions it over breakfast, while he’s at the stove, making her an omelet and setting the coffee maker to brew another cup. He can hear the hesitancy in her voice, can imagine her hands wrapped tightly around her coffee mug. He smiles down into the skillet and flicks the stove off before turning to her. 

The sun is just barely starting to come up, filling the kitchen with light, and it’s surrounding Liz, making her glow. Ressler watches her for a moment, while she’s still looking down into her coffee cup and thinks about her proposal. He imagines future mornings like this one, lazy days where she’s dressed in his shirt from the night before, hair messed up and eyes sleepy. He imagines cooking dinner with her, fighting over the amount of garlic in the spaghetti sauce. He imagines coming home with her after a long day at the Post Office, toeing off their shoes right in front of the door before stumbling to the bedroom and falling into bed fully clothed. 

He imagines all of it and if this had been a few years ago, he would have hesitated even longer. There was a time when he would have tried to change the subject because the thought of getting that close to someone again absolutely terrified him. But now, it’s all he can think about. 

Ressler knows, realistically, that not everything is going to be perfect. They’ll fight, he knows, because that’s who they are, two stubborn people who are willing to fight for what they want. But right now, what he wants is her. And looking at her now, in the glow of the morning light, her hair all messed up in the back from his pillow, all he can say to her proposal is ‘Okay.’

Liz doesn’t look up when he answers, but she grins down into her coffee which is slowly getting cold. She still doesn’t look up when he brings over their plates, omelets so big that they’re hanging off the sides of the plate. She only looks up when he finally settles in the chair next to her and she can’t contain the smile she gives him. She doesn’t know what to say to his answer, all she can do is smile. And then laugh when he rolls his eyes and nudges her with his elbow, bringing them back to normal. 

They eat their breakfast in relative silence, stealing glances at each other over coffee mugs and forks, but finally he sets his utensils down and just looks at her. 

“What?” she says even though her mouth is full. 

Ressler stares at her just a moment longer before shooting her that grin she loves so much one more time. “You’re my best friend, you know that?” he says and she can see the tips of his ears turning pink. 

Liz swallows the bit of egg and smiles back. “I love you, too.” 

\-----

Ressler realizes he’s absolutely, head over heels in love with Liz on a Thursday. He’s known he loves her for awhile, wouldn’t have agreed to have her move in with him if he didn’t. But there was always that small fear that it wasn’t going to last, that he would lose her before they could really get started. 

The day he realizes just how much he loves her, they’re chasing down a suspect, following him through back alleys and over fences. The suspect leads them through an abandoned building that’s old and stale and full of dark, shadowy corners, so Ressler and Liz decide to split up. He keeps an eye on her and she slowly ascends the stairs before he clears the bottom floor. It’s quickly apparent that their suspect has moved up, so he follows his partner up the stairs, watching her heels as she turns the corner. 

There’s a quick scuffle at the top of the stairs that Ressler can hear but not see and he pauses for half a second. Later on he’ll think about that half a second over and over again, will replay the moment in his mind until he’s sick with guilt. Because in that half of a second hesitation, the suspect upstairs gets the upper hand and the next thing Ressler sees is Liz falling backwards. 

She tumbles down the steps, and even though there aren’t a lot of them, her body makes a hard noise as it hits the floor and Ressler winces at the noise she lets out. Her name falls out of his mouth in a hurry as he kneels next to her, suspect all but forgotten as he checks on his partner. She tries to tell him to go after the suspect, but all he can see is her, her falling and landing, her not moving for the slightest moment. Her still struggling to breathe, even as she’s yelling at him. She’s tells him she’s fine and he wants to believe her, but all he can think about is what if he had lost her. 

Liz finally snaps him out of it, grabbing his face directly, leaving dirt smudges across his cheeks. “I’m okay, go!” she grinds out and that’s what kicks him into gear. He gives her one last look and and then bounds up the stairs, a burst of adrenaline making him take them two at a time. He catches the suspect on the top floor, tackling him and hitting him probably more than he should have, but all he can see still is the image of Liz sitting so still at the bottom of the stairs. 

Back up arrives only minutes later, grabbing the suspect and hauling him to his feet. Ressler scrambles up from the floor and all but flings himself out of the doorway to get back to Liz. She’s not where he left her, so he continues down the stairs, jumping the last few, before stopping in his tracks when he sees her. 

One of the other agents has apparently given her an ice pack already, and she’s holding it with one hand to the back of her head while the other other is wrapped around her ribs. He strides to her, long legs getting him there in no time, but she hears him coming and looks up. 

She tries to tell him that she’s fine, but she can’t even get a sound out before his mouth is on hers, pressing his lips harshly against hers and he can hear her sharp intake of breath. He doesn’t care that all the agents around them can see them, that word is probably on it’s way back to Cooper already, that they’ll probably be split up because partners and lovers don’t mix. 

He doesn’t care. Because he gets it now. He gets why people die for the ones that they love, why they kill. He gets why there is a millenia of love recorded throughout history. He gets why people talk about knowing when they’re in love because he feels it in that moment. 

Ressler finally pulls back, far enough to be able to breathe, but close enough that he’s basically breathing her same air. Liz’s eyes are closed and her breathing is ragged and he wants to believe that it’s from the kiss but it could also be from her obviously injured ribs and he feels the guilt creep up again.

And then she’s opening her eyes and a smile is crawling across her face as she looks up at him. It’s that smile that finally puts him at ease and he can feel his heartbeat fall back into a normal rhythm for the first time since they entered the building. A matching smile grows on his own face as he stares at her before he finally speaks. “I love you,” he says and it’s simple and heartfelt. 

He doesn’t need to hear it back, just needed to say it, so Liz lets her smile widen before taking his hand and leading him to a car and telling him to take her home. They’re silent the whole way, but his right hand is tangled up in her left, not gripping, but holding on to know she’s real and still there. Every time they come to a stoplight he looks at her and every time he does she’s staring right back. 

They’re almost home when they come to one last light. It’s dark now and the streetlight cast beams across their legs and the glow of the red light is eery. Ressler looks at her again, can’t stop looking at her, grips her hand just a tiny bit tighter. Liz smiles, squeezing back and blinking slowly at him. 

“I love you, too,” she says and he grins as the light turns green.

**Author's Note:**

> sidenote: there will be a separate side story for this posted later. it will be a stand alone but also sort of goes with this lol


End file.
